Live Video Streaming and TV Coverage

April 17 update: A work in progress for Amstel Gold Race 2011 live and delayed coverage. Check back at race time for the unrestricted live links. Feel free to send in additional sources for live video, tv coverage or text updates/tickers as they become known. — Steve

2009 Race Preview

The route follows a circuitous and bumpy path on the roads near the city of Maastricht before ending in Valkenburg

April 17 update:Please welcome guest columnist, Gavia, to steephill.tv. Many of you will have read her fine work at PodiumCafe where she is a regular contributor.

The Course: Riding in Circles

The Amstel Gold Race follows a circuitous and bumpy path on the roads near the city of Maastricht before ending in Valkenburg. The "Beer Race" is young in cycling terms, dating from 1966. Frenchman Jean Stablinski won the first edition, after a 300 kilometer (!) jaunt between Breda and Meerssen. Since 2003, the race has finished on the Cauberg, a 1.5 kilometer climb with a maximum gradient of 12 percent. This finish is made-to-order for riders like Damiano Cunego and Alejandro Valverde, talented climbers with big sprints.

Racing on a hilly course with narrow roads is always good entertainment. 31 short climbs in total.

A total of 31 short climbs dot the 258 kilometer course, which is one of the more confusing among the major classics. The course traces a series of circles, frequently doubling back upon itself, including three trips up the Cauberg. The climbs rarely last much more than a kilometer, but they are relentless in their repetition. Few flat roads interrupt the rhythm of constant climbing. The Eyserbosweg, which comes with approximately 20 kilometers to go, often serves to whittle down the finishing group, though it comes too far from the finish to be decisive. There is no set pattern to how Amstel is won, and the kilometers between the Eyserbosweg and the finish on the Cauberg typically involve a fair amount of tactical gamesmanship.

Adding to the difficulty, the roads are technical with tight corners, quick climbs, and steep descents. The narrow roads place a premium on riding at the front, while countless speed-bumps and numerous road furnishings stand ready to cause havoc in the bunch. A good portion of the race runs through residential areas, where parked cars stalk an inattentive rider. These obstacles can make for nervous racing, especially if the weather turns wet as it so often does.

The Favorites List

Last year's race winner, Damiano Cunego of Lampre-Ngc is perfectly suited to the hilly classics with his combination of climbing talent and finishing speed. He comes to this year's Amstel with two stage wins and the overall victory at Settimana Coppi e Bartali, a sixth place overall at the Vuelta al País Vasco, and a sixth place at the hilly Spanish semi-classic, Klassika Primavera. At the beginning of the season, Cunego named Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the Giro d'Italia, and the Worlds in Mendrisio as his season's objectives. At the same time, I doubt he'd mind adding another win at Amstel to his record. Certainly, he's on good form and is well-suited to this race.

Likewise for Spanish talent Alejandro Valverde of Caisse d'Épargne who must also rank among the favorites to win. Valverde shares Cunego's fast finish and strong climbing. Though currently in a spot of bother with the anti-doping authorities in Italy, Valverde continues to ride and win, thanks to the indulgence of the Spanish Federation. At the beginning of the season, Valverde claimed the Tour de France as his main objective of the year, and suggested that he would not ride to win before July. Perhaps that plan remains his intention, but in recent weeks, the Spanish rider has shown steadily increasing form. His most recent victory came at the Klassika Primavera where he won the sprint from a group that included Cunego. Valverde has twice won Liège-Bastogne-Liège, but never the Amstel Gold Race, where his highest finish is third. Should Valverde falter, his Caisse d'Épargne team-mate Joaquim Rodriguez has consistently achieved results in the hilly classics and earlier this season won the Montelupone stage at Tirreno-Adriatico, which finished on a wall-like climb.

It's been quite some time since Davide Rebellin won all three of the Ardennes week races, Amstel, Flèche Wallonne, and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, in 2004. But he hasn't exactly sat idle since then. This year will likely mark Rebellin's final year of racing, and he has declared the Ardennes and Worlds as his main objectives. The Italian classics talent consistently figures in the finale of these Spring classics, and finished second at Amstel Gold in 2007 and second at Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 2008. Riding for Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni-Androni Giocattoni (phew!), Rebellin can count on Michele Scarponi and Alessandro Bertolini for support, though he may find it difficult to match the speed of both Cunego and Valverde on the Cauberg.

Fränk Schleck of Saxo Bank won the 2006 edition of this race, attacking 9 kilometers from the finish to celebrate a solo victory on the Cauberg. Since then, Schleck has consistently made the podium at the Amstel Gold Race and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Schleck has the climbing legs and endurance for these hilly classics, but a lack of finishing speed complicates his chances. He needs to escape alone or find the right breakaway partner to win. If he goes to the line with a rider like Valverde, Schleck is all but certainly riding for second.

If things don't go well for Schleck on the day, the Saxo Bank roster is well-stocked with talent. Alexandr Kolobnev recently finished second at the GP Miguel Indurain, and Karsten Kroon played race-maker at Brabantse Pijl, but finished fifth after misjudging the sprint. Though he hasn't shown especially good form lately, Andy Schleck rode a stellar Liège-Bastogne-Liège last season in support of Fränk. Did I mention this Saxo Bank team is stacked?

Hot off a third place finish at the Ronde van Vlaanderen, Philippe Gilbert of Silence-Lotto has set the Amstel Gold Race as one of his objectives for the season. The Ronde result came as a surprise: Gilbert had not expected to ride the Flemish monument. A Walloon, Gilbert has long dreamed of winning his home races, Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, but has said in recent interviews that he believes that the Amstel Gold Race suits him better. He has yet to achieve a high finish at the Dutch classic, though, and his performance remains one of the more suspenseful aspects of this year's race. Gilbert will share team leadership at Silence-Lotto with Dutch talent Thomas Dekker, who has ridden well in these hilly classics in the past. Dekker has struggled to find form this season, though, in part as a consequence of allergies. So far in his career, the young Dutch rider has typically shown better in the stage races than in one day classics.

Other riders to watch include Kim Kirchen of Team Columbia-High Road, who last year won Flèche Wallonne. Kirchen has the legs for the climbs, but doesn't quite have the finishing speed of riders like Valverde and Cunego. Kirchen has spent the Spring re-building his form after he broke his collarbone at the Tour of California. Also returning from injury is Oscar Freire of Rabobank. Freire is generally characterized as a sprinter, but he has a versatile talent which has thrice won him Brabantse Pijl, a race that serves as a preview for the hilly Spring classics. The Amstel Gold Race is nonetheless likely too heavy on the climbing for the former World Champion. Instead, Rabobank will rely on young Dutch climbing talent Robert Gesink for a good result. The team sent Gesink to Tirreno-Adriatico for some speed work earlier this season, but he has struggled to find form and did not figure in the finale at Brabantse Pijl. Gesink may have found his legs since then, and if so, he could certainly cause his share of trouble on the hilly roads around Maastricht.

Cadel Evans, meanwhile, is on steadily building form, though he has declared the Tour de France his principal objective. Evans typically rides well in the hilly classics, though he lacks the finishing speed of the outright favorites. He celebrated one of his highest finishes in the Ardennes last year with a second place at Flèche Wallonne. He shares team leadership at Silence-Lotto with Philippe Gilbert. Christian Pfannberger of Katusha, has no previous results at Amstel, but has showed some form recently at the GP Miguel Indurain and the Settimana Coppi e Bartali. Like Pfannberger, German rider Fabian Wegmann of Team Milram is riding well, finishing second at Brabantse Pijl, but has never managed a high placing in the Spring classics. Wegmann has a nice turn of speed for the finish, but has struggled with the relentless climbs and lengthy distances of races like the Amstel Gold Race.

Long Shot Shout-out! A long shot shout-out to Vincenzo Nibali of Team Liquigas. The talented Italian is more made from the mold of a stage racer than a one day rider, but has recently shown a marked liking for the front of the bike race. Sadly, this effort has not rewarded him with any big victories just yet. In past seasons, he has won the GP Ouest-France and the Giro di Toscana, and recently finished fifth at GP Miguel Indurain and fifth at Klassika Primavera, ahead of Cunego, but behind Valverde. Well, yes, I did say he was a long-shot, didn't I? Forza Vincenzo! — Gavia

2008 third and fourth place finishers, Alejandro Valverde and Davide Rebellin, are also back this year.